Project Summary/Abstract The American Indian Research and Education Center (AIREC) within the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) under the School of Community Health Sciences, submit the Journey proposal in response to the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIDDK), Short-Term Research Experience Program for Underrepresented Persons (STEP-UP), R25. AIREC's proposal warrants consideration for the Coordinating Center that encompasses the American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) and Puerto Rican (PR) 11th & 12th grade high school students. Journey is an eight to ten week summer program which will expose twenty AI/AN and PR junior and senior high school students to the science of diabetes, endocrinology, metabolism, nutrition, and obesity. The long-term objective of Journey is to develop a sustainable research education program for high school students that provide hands on experiences with biomedical, behavioral, and clinical and social sciences research in diabetes, endocrinology, metabolism, nutrition, and obesity. Journey will give students direct exposure to mentors, research methods, skill building, and fellow researchers. This will result in the following measurable changes: ? Increased knowledge of real-world use of scientific methods; ? The role that research plays in shaping medical and behavioral fields; ? Increased knowledge of responsible conduct in health-related research; ? Increased knowledge of the role of research scientists and the diversity of people who pursue medical-science careers. Journey is designed to increase AI/AN and PR high school students' capacity and scientific knowledge in pursuing higher education degrees in the biomedical, behavioral, clinical and social sciences research fields.